Billionaire entertainment titan David Geffen and West Hollywood investor Mani Bros. Real Estate Group have continued their Malibu swapathon.
Mani late last month paid Geffen a record per-unit price for a 10-unit oceanfront apartment complex, acquiring the 8,000-square-foot low-rise building at 22648 Pacific Coast Highway for almost $15 million, or $1.5 million a unit.
It marks the highest price-per-unit for any apartment building in Los Angeles County history and came in at more than twice the $606,000-a-unit average for apartment sales in the seaside city.
Geffen developed the apartment complex and had owned it for a decade, said Bob Safai of Madison Partners, who represented both the buyer and the seller. It is fully occupied.
Simon Mani, who runs Mani Bros. with brother Daniel, said the firm was interested in the location, two doors down from popular restaurant Nobu, above all else. Mani Bros. plans to work with interior designer Waldo Fernandez to remodel the apartments as they become available.
Representatives of Geffen did not respond to a request for comment.
Safai said Mani Bros., which purchased the 47-room Malibu Beach Inn at 22878 Pacific Coast Highway – 100 yards away from the apartment complex – from Geffen for $80 million in February, is bullish on Malibu.
At $1.7 million a room, the Malibu Beach Inn also sold for a record price for an L.A. hotel.
“The Malibu market is very hot and investors are willing to accept lower yields for prime locations,” Safai said. “There’s only so much ocean front.”
That might bode well for Carlyle Group. The Washington, D.C., private equity firm has listed its 68-unit Villa Malibu complex for sale with Madison Partners. The 136,000-square-foot Class A multifamily building, at 6487 Cavalleri Road, contains a gym, tennis court and pool with cabanas. It is 97 percent occupied, but Safai said it could be positioned for condo conversion.
Carlyle has owned the property for more than a decade and Safai speculated that it could fetch $80 million, nearly $1.2 million a unit.
